1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to generating satellite tracking information for earth orbiting satellites. More specifically, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for generating and distributing satellite tracking information through a network or communications link.
2. Description of the Related Art
A positioning receiver for the Global Positioning System (GPS) uses measurements from several satellites to compute a position. The process of acquiring the GPS radio signal is enhanced in speed and sensitivity if the GPS receiver has prior access to a model of the satellite orbit and clock. This model is broadcast by the GPS satellites and is known as an ephemeris or ephemeris information. Each satellite broadcasts its own ephemeris once every 30 seconds. Once the GPS radio signal has been acquired, the process of computing position requires the use of the ephemeris information.
The broadcast ephemeris information is encoded in a 900 bit message within the GPS satellite signal. It is transmitted at a rate of 50 bits per second, taking 18 seconds in all for a complete ephemeris transmission. The broadcast ephemeris information is typically valid for 2 to 4 hours into the future (from the time of broadcast). Before the end of the period of validity the GPS receiver must obtain a fresh broadcast ephemeris to continue operating correctly and produce an accurate position. It is always slow (no faster than 18 seconds), frequently difficult, and sometimes impossible (in environments with very low signal strengths), for a GPS receiver to download an ephemeris from a satellite. For these reasons it has long been known that it is advantageous to send the ephemeris to a GPS receiver by some other means in lieu of awaiting the transmission from the satellite. U.S. Pat. No. 4,445,118, issued Apr. 24, 1984, describes a technique that collects ephemeris information at a GPS reference station, and transmits the ephemeris to the remote GPS receiver via a wireless transmission. This technique of providing the ephemeris, or equivalent data, to a GPS receiver has become known as “Assisted-GPS.” Since the source of ephemeris in Assisted-GPS is the satellite signal, the ephemeris information remains valid for only a few hours. As such, the remote GPS receiver must periodically connect to a source of ephemeris information whether that information is received directly from the satellite or from a wireless transmission. Without such a periodic update, the remote GPS receiver will not accurately determine position.
The deficiency of the current art is that there is no source of satellite trajectory and clock information that is valid for longer than a few hours into the future, and it can be expensive to send the ephemeris information repeatedly to the many remote devices that may need it. Moreover, mobile devices may be out of contact from the source of the Assisted-GPS information when their current ephemeris becomes invalid.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for providing satellite trajectory and clock information that is valid for an extended period into the future, e.g., many days into the future.